Boeing CEO’s Ouster Won’t Solve Deeper Problems
Dennis Muilenburg had to go, but the company needs a cultural overhaul.
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was the public face of the 737 Max crisis.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Two years ago, Boeing Co. could do no wrong. Lately, it can do nothing right, and someone had to pay the price.
That person turned out to be Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg. Boeing announced on Monday that he was resigning because the board had decided a change in leadership “was necessary to restore confidence in the company” after two fatal crashes and a worldwide grounding of its best-selling 737 Max jet. Muilenburg will be succeeded by David Calhoun, who assumed the chairman title from him in October.1 The directors are right to make this change, of course. But it’s amazing that it took the extension of the grounding to nine months; a rare and surprisingly indignant public admonishment from the Federal Aviation Administration over perceived pressure from the company; and ultimately a full Max production halt for the board to be convinced a serious change was necessary. Boeing replaced Kevin McAllister as head of the commercial airplane division in October, but as far as sacrifices go, that was never going to be enough.